old fashioned gsd puppies

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milo'n'molly

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I was wondering if anyone (apart from the police) breeds "working type" GSDs rather than the show type I have found so far. Trying to help find a nice pup from a reputable breeder for my parents and I know its each to their own but we are looking for a type that we used to have (which did come from the police) rather than one with the low back end that seems to be very common now.
Anyone?
 
There is a very reputable and well bred kennel near me that breeds Gsd's for working purpose and they breed and train for the police.

Cavey will give u a heads up, im in Durham no maybe no where near u but Cavey may beable to give u a few nearer u, wherever that may be?
 
The breed is only 100 years old, so 'old fashioned' is a bit of a misnomer :p
If you mean big, heavy, chunky, that's not really how they're meant to look, no more than the type with the 'low back end' you describe.
'Working type' GSDs now tend to be very high-drive, for sport or service work, and not always ideal in a pet home.

I will PM you some kennel recommendations, although if you give me your location it will make things easier :D
 
Thankyou, We're in west yorkshire so anywhere around here :)
What would make them not ideal for pet homes?
Our dogs tend to have an active lifestyle spending a lot of time at the stables, I have a collie x and an ACD x that i do agility and basic obedience/trick training/heel work classes with.
Was not thinking of Huge chunky dogs just more sporty than the show dogs
 
You sound like a perfect home for a worker then - they just need a lot of stimulation and some need pretty much constant attention or they make their own entertainment, and not always in a good way!
Some have very high prey drives so I would do a lot of basic groundwork around the horses when they are pups.

I just sent you a really long PM :p and one of the recommendations is a member on here, in your area :)

And I hate to repeat myself, but a lot of show dogs also work, there are a couple at our club who do both.
 
You're in a good area, some decent breeders in W Yorks, and as CC says one who is also a member on here. Good luck with your search.
Just a thought, if you do contact breeders you're probably best not saying you are looking for old fashioned GSDs as it doesn't sound as if that is what you are after.
 
Slightly weary of adding my penny's worth, as the most knowledgeable GSD people on AAD have already replied, but here goes just in case it comes in handy. When we were looking for a GSD with a good temperament and without the really low back end, after a lot of searching we got a pup from Nixtev, http://www.nixtev.co.uk/

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, the dog has been super in every way!
 
I suspect Nixtev might have been one of the breeders suggested by CC, but if not, definitely one to consider.
I would be slightly wary of dogs on the patrol and protection site as imagine they are pretty full on workers, haven't been on there though so prepared to be corrected.
 
Thankyou for the responses I have lots to be looking at. Just out of interest if they are not supposed to be the big chunky dogs or the modern show type dogs, what would be considered what they should look like?
 
Well I come from the west German showline camp originally and have moved more to the working side.
Not all showline GSDs are slopey-backed cripples any more than the straighter-backed, lighter working type are all totally sound and fit as fiddles.
There are working dogs who show and show dogs who work.

Basically, it is a working breed and I dislike the big, tall, heavy, chunky swayback type, it goes against what they are intended to do and they were never meant to be a giant breed so those who say 'old fashioned, big boned, straight backed' have never seen a photo of Horand vom Grafath, the 'Adam' of the breed.

I definitely prefer athletic.
I don't like some of the over-exaggerated, over-angulated types either, but I can say because I have done it myself and I have seen it with my own eyes, you can push and pull a dog into a shape for a photo!

The breed is very diverse, which makes us lucky in some respects, less lucky in others.
There are plenty of types to choose from and I personally like most good-charactered GSDs as dogs, whatever they look like, but do have a preferred type (I won't go into all my favourite dogs and bore you!!!)
 
This

P100509_155801.jpg


Only joking, I am just biased. I don't think anyone said they shouldn't look like the correct show type, you just said you didn't want that sort, which is fair enough. I am loathe to post pictures of someone elses dog which will probably then be criticised by some, but I love this little bitch and is of the type I would consider correct. (click the google link)
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...a=X&ei=qCr9TIf4GuCAhAe1lamhAg&ved=0CCAQ9QEwAw
 
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I remember that as a child,(about 25 years ago:o) i had a picture of a GSD, smooth coated, smallish, athletic looking, lovely looking dog, but I have never seen that type in reality. I would be interested to know the breeding that produces that type.:)
 
Oh they're out there, but they're from working lines mostly and they are not always easy pets, as mentioned, on the go all the time.
East German, Czech, Belgian, Dutch etc but the size is creeping up all over sadly.

I'll have some more trial pics in the new year for your perusal if you want to see them working :p
 
thank you so much for all the information, i'm going through it all so will prob come back with zillions of stupid questions. From the kennels i have looked at, the type of dogs i like the look at are the ones concentrating on the working dogs. BUT at the end of the day, it will be a pet. The sites say quite qlearly high drive dogs, dominant dogs etc which for police work i can see is very important but am i going to give myself problems? I have always had high energy, high intelegence dogs and enjoy training but never have i had a difficult or dominant dog. Will i need to do anything more than regular training and ground rules? Sorry for all the questions just want to get things right
 
Yes, the RAF use GSDs but most use their own kennels and breeding programmes.

Milo, phone/email and talk to the breeders about what you are looking for and they will do their best to accommodate you, some will tell you right off, no, these are sports dogs, they will be too much, others will say, well, there might be one or two in this litter or by this dog or that bitch, more suited to a non working home, for instance one of the kennels I sent you as link to recently sold a Slovakian bitch who on paper should have been knocking criminals flat and winning every trial, but just wanted to cuddle up by the fire!

The best thing to do is ring up, have a chat about what you want and take it from there.
The one we referred you to who is a member on this forum is always very helpful!
 
This is what Dizzy looks like, but I am not into showing or working so I have no idea if this is what either discipline looks for:

Dizzy1.jpg


(sorry this is coming out so huge, I did try to resize it ten times but clearly I am useless!)
 
He looks like a lovely dog!

See TBH, while we talk about 'working' or 'show', there are dogs coming out of both camps that could pass for either 'type'.

I know already FI that your boy has old English breeding through his dam line, but he has the look of older west German showlines.

I had a bitch who you would have sworn was old English breeding, but her father was a German import and her mother was born in quarantine out of German parents.
I know I am going to completely contradict myself and I know indulge in it for identification purposes, but I don't know how much these disparate camps actually do the breed.

They're all GSDs and while the gene pool is now large, you can trace them all back to the same dog :)
 
Any excuse for canine lve of my life pics :p
This is Fred(on the left) who is what I think of when talking GSD.Jess was my beauty,aand ment to be purebred :o
I konw he is not correct,but he just sums the type up to me- for his heart mostly I think. He stopped two break ins and was a constant companion, walking and running for hours on end in the local woods with me and my friends.

Img0001-1.jpg
 
Too true CC- temprement and soundness should come above all.

Funny thing,I can look at them no,as an adult and see what is wrong but can't for the life of me do a CC on them- guess they will always be viewed through the rose tinted specs of childhood :D

I think I still have a red rosette I won with Fred somewhere, was a dog with most waggy tail and I am so,so proud of that.
When we got him (free to a good home, we were number 8 and the peope getting rid told us the ones before them had shut him in a cupbored under the stairs and wacked him to show him who was boss :rolleyes: ) he was a big ball of nerves.
The head trainer at our local GSD training club threw him out saying
that is not a dog,that is a leathel wepon on a lead
Click to expand...
:o
Four years later,I was 10,taking him to novelty local shows and winning a couple too.

He really is testimont to dogs capacity to forgive and a reminder that we are not the better half of the partnership!



I wish you the best of luck in your search OP,truely hope you have as many happy years with your GSD as I had with ours :)



ETS_ Given that it is nearly the big C :o
Fred stole the turkey, tore the crackers to peices,turned the cooker off leaving us with raw turkey aand used the tree as an indoor loo (never had a real one after that :D )- he was nothing if not fun :p
 
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Haha, I can totally CC my dogs :o doesn't mean I love them any less but I know their good points and bad points.

Indeed, OP, let us know how you get on and come back if you need anything more :)
 
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